Operation De-Hulk
Chapter 15
"Alright, so what's the plan, Bruce?" Tony asks as he and Gohan settle onto Betty's couch.
"Well, I need to get the data I retrieved to my contact." Bruce answers.
"I'm guessing you had to stash the drive or chip you saved it on somewhere when you noticed the military on your tail." Tony speculates.
Bruce nods in confirmation.
"Is it back at Culver?"
Bruce's shakes his head. "No, I didn't have a lot of time after I saw Ross and his crew surrounding the building. So I..." He leaves unfinished and shifts his gaze to the floor.
"So what did you do?" Tony asks.
"I-I swallowed it."
Gohan is dumbstruck, but Tony just shrugs in nonchalance, and with an amused smirk, quips, "I guess that means we have to wait for nature to take its course before we go anywhere."
Betty snorts at Tony's brazen comment while Bruce sighs and nods.
Exasperated on Dr. Banner's behalf, Gohan lightly elbows Tony's side. "Come on, Dad, be serious."
Tony chuckles and raises his hands in surrender. "Ok, ok, strictly business." Tony assures Gohan.
He then turns back to Bruce and asks, "Who is your contact? And where are they? While we wait for...you know, I can set up the necessary arrangements to get us where we'll need to go."
"So far all he's gone by is Mr. Blue, and he told me once I got the data to meet him at Empire State University."
"New York, huh?" Tony mumbles to himself. He stands up while pulling his phone out of his pocket. "That shouldn't take too long to set up."
Before anyone can respond, Tony dials Pepper's number and presses the call button.
Once Tony hears the click confirming she answered, he switches the call to speaker, and instantly regrets doing so when Pepper greets him with, "TONY! ARE YOU COMPLETELY INSANE?!"
Everyone else startles at the volume, but Tony –well accustomed to Pepper's fury– calmly replies, "And a good afternoon to you as well, Ms. Potts."
"Don't give me that crap, Tony. What were you thinking?"
Not certain what's got her upset, he asks, "What are you referring to, Pep?"
"You know what I'm talking about, it's all over the news."
Tony raises a brow in confusion, then looks to the suit. "JARVIS, can you switch on the news?"
"Of course, Sir." JARVIS replies, then without prompting, Betty's TV turns back on, revealing a still shot of Gohan standing in front of Bruce's other form with a headline scrolling across the bottom of the screen.
'BLOND BERSERKER BOY' DECIMATES 'HULK'! WHO'S THE REAL MONSTER?'
As the picture shrinks down to a small square on the top right corner of the screen, an anchor begins recapping the day's earlier battle, speculating about how the poorly named 'Blond Berserker Boy' managed to incapacitate the 'Hulk' so easily when the US military couldn't put a scratch on him, why he was with Tony Stark, and if he's a threat to the general public.
"Shit." Tony curses under his breath. He turns back to Gohan, and the disheartened look on his boy's face breaks Tony's heart.
Gohan tries to give Tony a reassuring smile, but it doesn't reach his eyes. "Well...it may not be what I would have come up with for a codename...but it's a start."
Tony sits back down next to Gohan and slings an arm around his shoulders. "That's crap, and you know it, Gohan."
"But Dad-" Gohan tries to argue, but Tony interrupts. "No buts, Kid. I know when you hear someone else say something negative about you that you've thought yourself, that it makes it feel true. Believe me, I know, but it's not, they're just coming up with whatever sounds good to get ratings. They don't know the real you, and it's none of their business until if and when you decide to let anyone know who you really are."
While Gohan mulls over Tony's words, Tony meets Bruce's gaze for a moment and winks, silently telling him these words don't only apply to Gohan.
Noticing the gesture, Bruce smiles and nods, and as Tony turns back to Gohan, he spots Betty mouth 'Thank you' to him.
Gohan looks back at Tony, but before either can say anything, Goten excitedly chirps, "Mama." while trying to pull Tony's phone out of his hand.
Pepper's voice echoes from it. "Goten? Tony, what's going on? Do you have me on speaker?"
Tony laughs and plucks his phone out of the infant's hand. "Sorry, Monkey, I'm gonna need to hold on to that."
Goten pouts, but turns to Gohan and seems to pick up on his brother's mood.
While Goten tries to get Gohan's attention, Tony answers Pepper, "Sorry, Pep, we just checked out the news and got distracted."
"I know what you mean. Is Gohan ok?"
Gohan speaks up to answer. "Yeah, I'm ok, Mom."
"I explained to him that reporters are full of it, and he shouldn't read too much into anything they say." Tony adds.
Gohan and Pepper both chuckle and Pepper says, "Well good, you saved me the trouble. I know it's not pleasant to hear them say these things about you, Gohan, but Tony's right. They're all just full of it."
Gohan feels Goten shifting in his lap and looks down to find his brother staring at him with a serious expression on his face.
"Bubba no sad." Goten demands.
Gohan's smile becomes more genuine. "I'm ok, Goten, I promise." He assures, then tells everyone, "Now let's get back to the situation at hand."
Tony smiles and ruffles Gohan's hair. "You got it, Squirt."
He switches his phone off speaker and brings it up to his ear. "Now Pep, for the main reason I called. There's been a change of plans."
As Tony explains today's events to Pepper, Bruce moves to sit on the arm of the couch next to Gohan. "I never put much stock into what others say about a person, you've got to meet them yourself before you form an opinion. But even so, you can't help but make assumptions about public figures from the actions they let others see them do. And I gotta say, with this brief meeting, Tony has proven all the ones I had about him wrong."
Gohan glances up at Bruce, having a good idea where the man is going with this.
"What I'm trying to say is, as one 'monster' to another, I know it hurts being labeled like this, but the only opinions you should really take to heart are those of the people who know and care about the real you."
Gohan is grateful for the words of encouragement from Bruce, but worry creeps into his mind that if and when the man learns about his past, he might not feel this way for long. "I appreciate that, Dr. Banner, though you might end up agreeing with those reporters once you hear everything about me."
Bruce blinks in surprise at the boy's reply, and the haunted look that flashes in his eyes for a moment, so he asks, "I'm guessing Tony and the woman he's talking to right now know about it?"
Gohan nods. "Yeah, they and 4 others know it all."
"Have any of them showed even the slightest hint that they think you're a monster since you told them?"
Gohan looks down at Goten, who just grins up at him. "No, everyone has been very kind to me, even after learning about and seeing my darker side."
Bruce looks back at Betty, the one who's always been on his side regardless of everything that's happened since the incident, and smiles. "If they've stuck by you, then I highly doubt whatever you went through would make me think less of you."
"Thank you, Dr. Banner."
"Sure, us 'monsters' gotta stick together, don't we?" Bruce drops a hand on Gohan's shoulder. "Feel free to call me Bruce."
Before Gohan can respond, Goten shouts, "Bwu!"
They both chuckle at the infant's attempt at saying Bruce's name, and Gohan replies, "Alright, Bruce it is."
Even though he was still on the phone making their travel arrangements with Pepper, Tony had been watching the exchange between Gohan and Bruce along with Betty, and neither could help cracking up a bit at Goten's try at pronouncing Bruce's name.
"Well, I think we've got everything set up. Right Pep?" Tony asks as he switches the speaker phone back on.
"Yeah, I've sent one of Stark Industries' private jets to the airport in Richmond. It's stocked up with all the supplies you might need and it will take you all directly to New York." Pepper explains to everyone.
"From there me and the boys can either come with you when you 2 meet up with this Mr. Blue, or find a hotel for us all to stay at while you work on a cure." Tony adds, knowing Betty will be sticking with Bruce no matter what.
Everyone nods in understanding and Bruce says, "I'm ok with you guys tagging along to the rendezvous."
Tony smirks. "I was hoping you'd say that."
Pepper speaks back up, "Well, I'm gonna let you guys get ready. I hope this works out for you, Dr. Banner."
"Thank you, Ms. Potts, I'm very grateful for all your and Tony's help." Bruce answers.
"It's no problem, Dr. Banner. And Gohan, make sure to keep an eye on Tony for me."
Gohan laughs while Tony asks, "Pep, shouldn't that be the other way around? I mean, I'm the parent here, aren't I?"
Without hesitation, Pepper says, "Sometimes Tony, you make me wonder about that."
Tony huffs in mock irritation while Gohan says, "Don't worry, Mom, I'll make sure he stays out of trouble."
Bruce, Betty, and Pepper all chuckle while Tony warns Gohan, "Anymore sass from you, young man, and you'll be grounded for a month."
"Yes, Sir." Gohan replies with a smirk.
"I'll see you boys when you get home." Pepper says, ready to end the call.
"Thanks for the help, Pepper-pot." Tony replies before hanging up.
Tony slips his phone into his pocket and sits back down next to Gohan. "Whenever you guys are ready, we can head to Richmond. By the time we get there the jet will be waiting and ready to take off."
"Sure, I'll go pack a bag." Betty replies before heading to her room.
"And I'll try to get a message to Mr. Blue." Bruce says as he gets up and follows Betty.
"Feeling nature's call yet, Bruce?" Tony asks with an amused smirk.
Bruce pauses for a moment, but refuses to answer Tony and continues his exit from the room.
Tony chuckles and Gohan levels him with a stern glare.
Tony just shrugs in a 'what are you gonna do?' gesture, which gets another laugh out of Gohan.
After another hour of waiting, Betty had a bag packed and Bruce was back with the flash drive in hand.
Tony passes on the chance to poke fun at Bruce, and has JARVIS scan the drive to make sure the data wasn't lost.
After confirming it was intact, everyone got ready to head out.
Gohan changes out of his gi and into a pair of blue jeans, a black t-shirt, a white button up over it, and puts the visor glasses back on.
Tony has a vehicle sent to their location so Betty won't have to leave hers at the airport, straps the sling in the back seat for Goten to ride in, capsules the suit, and pockets it.
They all load into the rental car and begin the drive to the airport.
-Elsewhere‐
"You healed up yet?" General Ross asks Blonsky as he enters his hospital room.
"Yeah, that watered down super soldier serum is really handy." Blonsky answers while pulling an IV drip out of his arm.
"Good, are you ready for another shot at Banner?"
"I thought I heard some of the others say that that blond boy got you to back off of him."
"Of course I'm not. My daughter is with Stark and those monsters, I'm not gonna leave her with them." Ross answers.
"Well even if we catch Banner off guard before he can change, how do you plan to deal with the kid that knocked 'Hulk' on his ass like it was nothing?" Blonsky asks.
"While you were unconscious, I received a package from an anonymous sender. In it was this container with some strange chemical inside and a note that said 'Use this on the 'Blond Berserker Boy', and he'll be as helpless as a normal child.'" Ross replies.
Blonsky scoffs. "Do you actually buy that?"
"I had the chemical analyzed, and it's something my scientists have never seen before, so it could be a legit weapon against the little super freak." Ross explains. "It's the only chance I have, so I'll take the risk."
"Any clue who the sender was?"
"They only referred to themself in the note as 'B'."